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A Wreck on Route 66

A wreck near the Rail Haven Motor Court
from Bias magazine, 20 February 1952 page 8.

"By a miracle nobody was killed -- nobody was even badly hurt -- in this messy collision at Glenstone and St. Louis on Feb. 12. The tractor-trailer rig, loaded with four new DeSotos, was coming south on Glenstone, over the viaduct, when the left-turn signal flashed on the traffic light. Mrs. Virginia Patterson, of 1034 Stewart, driving the car (right), turned left in front of the truck. Truck driver James Linzy said he was unable to stop. The truck struck the car, smashing it against the curb. The tractor snapped off one big pole, climbed another. The traffic light crashed to earth. Its wreckage is visible at right [lower right in photo]. With Mrs. Patterson were her daughter, Sheila, 5 and a neighbor, Terry Kapp, 1045 Stewart, also 5.

"A brake expert looked at Linzy’s truck after the crash, soon told police why he couldn’t stop. The tractor, said the expert, had vacuum brakes, the trailer air brakes. It’s impossible to connect the two -- though this picture (right) shows that a hose had been strung from the tractor to the trailer, evidently to make it appear that brakes on the tractor and trailer were synchronized. Driver Linzy was charged by both the city and county for failure to yield right of way and for having inadequate brakes."

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